.MTS Video Converter On Xoom?

[Aaron407]

Now that I'm rooted, have USB host abilities, and I'm able to connect my HD video camera to my Xoom for file access, I'd really love the ability to play those HD videos on my Xoom. Since there are no players that can effectively do that, does anyone know of any apps that could convert an AVCHD file already on the Xoom to a proper format for Xoom playback while using the Xoom itself for the conversion? I'd definitely be willing to pay for something that could do this.

[Ads]

[dvdcatalyst]

Now that I'm rooted, have USB host abilities, and I'm able to connect my HD video camera to my Xoom for file access, I'd really love the ability to play those HD videos on my Xoom. Since there are no players that can effectively do that, does anyone know of any apps that could convert an AVCHD file already on the Xoom to a proper format for Xoom playback while using the Xoom itself for the conversion? I'd definitely be willing to pay for something that could do this.

On the Xoom itself I don't recall any apps doing that. There are players like rockplayer/moboplayer that use the ffmpeg engine for decoding video, which should work for playing your MTS files on the Xoom, but depending on the quality settings used for your recordings, I doubt that they would actually be able to play it realtime. To convert the video, basically the video needs to be decoded and then encoded, which will, if possible, be even slower. In theory, it should be possible to use the ffmpeg engine for decoding, and then use the hardware to assist in encoding (which is what is being done when you record video on the Xoom), but that goes pretty deep.

However, with 3.1 being available for more tablets, which adds the usb support, I'm sure it wouldn't be too long before someone comes out with something for it. I wouldn't expect miracles though.

[Aaron407]

That's kind of what I figured. I use your wonderful software package to convert when I'm at home, but it would be great to have something that could convert without a computer as a go-between for those days when I'm packing light. Moboplayer and rockplayer can play the files through software decoding, but nowhere near realtime (even when I'm overclocked a 1.504GHz). Hopefully somebody will come up with something (hint hint to any developers out there interested in taking my money ).

[Aaron407]

Update:

I recently ran across an app that does what I need: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...onverter&hl=en

I also purchased the pro key in order to customize the encoding, and installed the recommended video codec. The app itself is based on ffmpeg as an encoding engine and has a fair number of options. I was able to take my .mts video files, set the encoding to the following:

Profile: manual
Container: .mp4
Codec: MPEG-4
Res: 1280x720
Bitrate: 8000
Rate: 44100 Hz (I wish there were a 48000 Hz option...)
Bitrate: 256kbps

...and, after a long wait (encoded at only 4-6 fps), had a beautifully encoded 720p output file that was fully hardware playable. It was smooth, fairly small in size, and was exactly what I was looking for, other than the inability to use 48kHz as an audio sampling rate. I highly recommend this for anyone else looking to convert/watch their camera footage on their Xoom without having a computer as an intermediary for transcoding.

[PavtubeVideo]

Update:
I was able to take my .mts video files, set the encoding to the following:

Profile: manual
Container: .mp4
Codec: MPEG-4
Res: 1280x720
Bitrate: 8000
Rate: 44100 Hz (I wish there were a 48000 Hz option...)
Bitrate: 256kbps

The bitrate is way too high for Motorola Xoom tablet, and it will ends up with BIG file size (over 1GB for 15mins' footage).
8000kbps and 4000kbps looks no difference on such a small screen, but the file size can be cut down by half when you set bitrate to 4000kbps.
Trust me- Pavtube specialize in video and DVD conversion and we did lots of tests.

[Aaron407]

In general I agree, but I did test 4000 and noticed some very subtle macroblocking on shadow variations. I assume it's due to the single pass MPEG4 codec being used rather than h.264. With all due respect, I will trust my own eyes since I have been tweaking video encoding myself since modifying the GOP structure and quantize matricies of an MPEG1 was necessary for solid video quality.

[dvdcatalyst]

8000Kbps is no problem at all for the Xoom. It will do a lot higher than that, especially with the MPEG4 format.

In my own tests I went as high as 20.000Kbps with 1080p-sized video and it ran perfectly fine on my own Xoom. Having an actual device to test with does make quite a difference.

In general I agree, but I did test 4000 and noticed some very subtle macroblocking on shadow variations. I assume it's due to the single pass MPEG4 codec being used rather than h.264. With all due respect, I will trust my own eyes since I have been tweaking video encoding myself since modifying the GOP structure and quantize matricies of an MPEG1 was necessary for solid video quality.

The MPEG4 format offers lower compression, which is why you will notice some artifacts at 1280x720 at 4000Kbps. H264 offers a better compression, which should enable you to reduce the bitrate/filesize a bit.
If you use the Xoom's internal memory, the filesize (aside from the space itself of course) isn't that big of a deal (I ran a 15GB MP4 from internal memory before without complications), but if you are using a memorycard for storage, you might run into complications.

But considering that you are doing the conversion on the actual Xoom, I would stick to the settings you are using already. I don't think you will be using it to convert 2hour long recordings, and if you already getting 4-6 fps as a speed with MPEG4, using H264 will be a lot less.